Testing times for elderly drivers

28/06/2013 , 3:25 PM by Jamie Burnett

Are you over 75 and still driving? Maybe you’ve hung
up the car keys already knowing that you’re not the best behind the wheel any
more.

Researchers at the Monash University Accident Research
Centre are taking part in an international study to try and develop a
test for doctors to determine whether their patients are still fit to drive.

Senior research fellow Dr Sjann Koppel told Geoff Hutchison that over the four years of the study so far, they had noticed a
definite “slowing down” in the participants.

It caused them to adapt their
driving accordingly.

But she says the adaptation is not the problem so
much as when drivers don’t realise their reactions are slower.